CNBC Asia was announced in 1995 as a localised version of
CNBC for the
Asia-Pacific region. The network was expected to feature 10 hours of programming per day from its studio in
Hong Kong, along with bureaus in
Bombay,
Singapore, and
Tokyo. The rest of its programming would be sourced from
CNBC Europe and its U.S. counterpart.
NBC Asia chairman Patrick Cox expected that the network would reach five million homes by the end of its first year on-air. In January 1995, a
"preview" known as ANBC launched, which carried a mix of programming from
CNBC US and CNBC Europe on
Galaxy in Australia and
Wharf Cable in Hong Kong. The network would be a competitor to the Singapore-based
Asia Business News (ABN), a joint venture between
Dow Jones & Company,
Tele-Communications Inc.,
TVNZ, and other local investors which launched in 1993. There were doubts that the two competing business news channels in the market would be viable; ABN CEO Paul France derided CNBC Asia as being "an Asian branch of an American company." However, as early as November 1995, it was reported that NBC and Dow Jones were considering a merger of their business news channels in Asia and Europe, including ABN and its European counterpart,
European Business News (EBN). In March 1997, CNBC Asia expanded its carriage on cable in India via an agreement with the
Hinduja Group.
Merger with ABN Renewed negotiations between NBC and Dow Jones surfaced in November 1997 amid financial difficulties at the companies' Asian and European operations. Dow Jones had been operating at a loss of US$48 million, and CNBC at $40 million. The merged operation would retain the CNBC branding, but be overseen by Paul France, and relocate to ABN's Singapore studios—resulting in layoffs of 150 employees from its Hong Kong bureau, Citing cost issues and a plan to focus exclusively on Asian business news, simulcasts of CNBC US programmes were dropped from its overnight schedule in favour of reruns of domestic programmes. After the decision was poorly received by viewers, CNBC's U.S. business day programmes were reinstated in March. In October 1999, CNBC Asia had a partnership with the
Australian Financial Review to present
The Australian Financial Review Market Wrap, a daily round-up of market news from the Australian region hosted by James Walker and Grace Phan. Major programming changes occurred on 30 October 2000 with CNBC Asia expanding
Asia Squawk Box to two hours,
Asia Market Watch to two hours in the morning and 1½ hours in the afternoon and
Power Lunch Asia to one full hour. CNBC Asia's ticker was also reformatted on that day to include colours reflecting a change in the stock prices (green for an increase and red for a decrease) and a stock's ticker symbol. In 2001, CNBC Asia introduced localised tickers to audiences in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore and has since kept the ticker on the screen during commercial breaks. In July 2001,
Asia Squawk Box was further extended to three hours and more programming hours from
CNBC US and
CNBC Europe were added to the line-up. This was further extended in 2002 when U.S. programming started at 20.00
UTC+8 time uninterrupted on weeknights.
2005–present: Post-merger In July 2005, Dow Jones exited its joint ventures with CNBC, putting them entirely under the ownership of
NBC Universal. In March 2007, CNBC Asia announced that it would expand its presence in Australia, including establishing a new
Sydney bureau (initially based out of a local
General Electric office, with a studio under construction at the
Burns Philp Building across from Sydney Exchange Square), and premiering
Squawk Australia—an hour-long program preceding
Asia Squawk Box to cover the opening of the Australian markets. The following month, CNBC launched
Worldwide Exchange, a new international business program that would be simulcast across CNBC in Asia, Europe, and the United States. CNBC Asia also launched two brand new shows that replaced
Market Watch and the CNBC Europe programme ''Today's Business;
CNBC's Cash Flow, anchored by Maura Fogarty (first hour) and Amanda Drury (second hour), was originally intensely trader and investor based. Following the success of Worldwide Exchange
, another joint production, Capital Connection,
was launched. It was originally anchored by Maura Fogarty in Singapore and Steve Sedgwick in London. Unlike Worldwide Exchange
, which was originally produced by CNBC Europe (until production of that show was relocated to CNBC US on 4 January 2016), Capital Connection'' was produced by CNBC Asia. On 27 September 2007, CNBC Asia announced two additional shows from Sydney,
Trading Matters—a wrap-up of the day's market action, and
Australia This Week. Both shows were anchored by then-newly appointed CNBC anchor Oriel Morrison, formerly of the
Nine Network and
Bloomberg Television. The shows debuted on 2 and 6 October 2007, respectively, as the channel officially opened its new Burns Philip Building studios. In mid-2009, CNBC Asia launched a new personal finance show as an opt-out in Australia,
The Barefoot Investor, with Australian personal finance expert Scott Pape. In June 2010, CNBC Asia relocated to a new studio at the
Singapore Exchange. This coincided with changes to the network's lineup, including the cancellation of
Squawk Australia and re-expansion of
Asia Squawk Box to a three-hour format, and the new program
The Call. On 31 March 2014, CNBC replaced
The Call and
Cash Flow with the early morning show
The Rundown and a local version of
Street Signs. Asia Squawk Box also relocated to a new studio in Hong Kong. In 2019,
Asia Squawk Box returned to Singapore with a new anchor lineup.In June 2023, CNBC Asia set up a new office in Mapletree Business City. Facilities include a master control room, a production control room for social media platforms and a small studio. On 22 July 2024, CNBC Asia updated its on-air presentation and branding to match the new CNBC US branding that was first introduced on 11 December 2023. On 7 April 2025, CNBC Asia revamped its programming schedule by introducing the new programmes
US Markets Edition (which provides highlights of CNBC's previous American trading day coverage),
The China Connection,
Inside India, and
Access Middle East. ==Programming==